Political Education

Sun, 02/14/2010 - 17:20

Every election year, the affiliated union organizations that comprise the Alaska Federation of the AFL-CIO, vote on which candidates and initiatives to endorse. The Alaska AFL-CIO then makes every effort to inform union members about these endorsements and why they were made. This past election cycle we were very effective at getting candidates endorsed by labor elected to the legislature.

However, we could do a much better job in the future by convincing more of our members about supporting the recommendations of the AFL-CIO. Convincing members of voting to support their own pocket books is of the utmost importance, as they will have a greater ability to impact other issues of importance to them, whether that be issues of the environment, religion, gun rights or what have you.

The issues of worker's rights and our success in achieving and maintaing those rights are the primary motivators of our acitivism. In order to see why it is that labor backs the candidates we do, one need only look back to our recent labor history to see what happens to working families when government is controlled by those who do not have worker's rights in their primary interest. Accordingly, don't hesitate to check out our page on Labor History and the myriad information available to educate you about what struggles labor has gone through and how vigilant we need to be to protect our hard earned rights. Not registered to vote? Click here for the Alaska voter registration form

The Winter 2011 edition of the AK Labor News focuses on the attack on public employee unions. There are several embedded links in the newsletter that provide much needed background information to help union members and staff refute these false charges. Click on the links, get educated and be ready to "Defend the Union way of Life!"